


Cube

by twitchy_hands



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-11-29 03:31:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18217613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twitchy_hands/pseuds/twitchy_hands
Summary: tua cube auWith the apocalypse stopped the Hargreeves siblings finally had nothing to worry about.Waking up in a strange room with no memory of who they are except for their names wasn't part of the plan.





	1. "If you don't smarten up, I'm gone like that."

**Author's Note:**

> lol this is basically self-indulgent bullshit bc im hyperfixating on both tua and cube
> 
> you dont have to have seen cube to read/understand this but like its quite literally a rewrite of cube with the tua character so there will be major spoilers for cube

Ben felt nothing. 

His eyes rolled open and he squinted at the harsh light, his limbs light and numb. 

Frantically he blinked, taking in his surroundings. A small room, doors on all four sides as well as one on the floor and one on the ceiling with narrow ladders built into the walls. The room glowed a bright unnatural white. 

He stood slowly, cautiously. A hollow echoing rattled through Ben's brain. 

Scraping and rumbling came from his left side and Ben spun his head toward the sound. Clueless as to how he got there he tried to remember, struggling with making his mind work.

After a few moments of silence nothing had come to Ben. All he knew was his name.

He walked toward one of the doors soundlessly, twisting the latch and peaking through to the cube shaped room on the other side, this one a baby blue.

He stumbled back, looking toward his feet. Unlatching the door on the floor gave him nothing more than another identical room, this one a brilliant red. 

"Shit..." Ben whispered to himself. 

He tried one more door. The room on the other side glowed a soft peach, a welcoming colour unlike the harsh white he was currently surrounded with.

Climbing through the hatch he swung his legs through to the other side. Here goes nothing, he thought. 

Just as he landed in the next room a mechanical whirring sounded, the door automatically shutting. For a moment there was a relieved silence. This wasn't so bad, all he had to do was go in a straight line - maybe mark each room so he would know if he got turned around and started walking in circles. 

He took a step forward and there was an echoing clang. Ben stopped dead in his tracks. Slowly, he turned to find a razor wire net standing upright behind him. It had gone right through him, he felt it go through him. 

Yet Ben was perfectly fine. 

He watched it neatly fold itself back up with a mechanical clank, clank, clank. Resetting. Getting ready for its next victim, no doubt. Ben held a hand up to his chest, shakily climbing to his throat. He took another step forward and the contraption fell back down again and like clockwork packed itself back up. Motion sensors, maybe. 

Ben decided to take a breath, realising it was the first one he had taken the entire time he'd been awake.

\---

Luther's laboured breathing filled the room as he climbed up into the ceiling, looking around with a trained eye. He pulled himself up easily, and quickly when he noticed the young man on the floor of the new room. 

"Hey!" He whispered gruffly. The man gave no sign of getting up. Unconscious then.

The whirr of the door alerted Luther to it closing behind him and he stood, speaking louder.

"Hey!" He slapped the man's cheek a bit. No luck. 

For a split second Luther considered continuing on, opening another door and peaking inside. A soft peach colour. Looking back at the man limp on the ground with a sweat drenched face, skin and bone - well it helped him find his conscious. The door closed.

He went back over, shaking the man this time. He looked sort of peaceful, familiar even. It swelled some feeling in Luther’s chest that he didn't have much time to dwell on as the man's eyes shot open.

"Oh god..." He muttered as his eyes refocused on Luther’s face. "You ever heard of a mint?"

He dropped the man's coverall lapels unceremoniously and stood back, a small frown on his face.

"Ow! What was that for? Kick a man while he's down why don't you!" His words slurred a bit and for a moment Luther thought he might be hurt before the other man muttered out a soft "What kind of bad trip is this."

A junkie. Figures.

"Now isn't the time for jokes. Do you know-"

The click of the door across the room halted Luther's question and he quickly brought a finger to his lips, shushing the other man silently.

Luther stepped quietly under the door, back pressed against the wall like he was a spy on a mission while the addict gave him a mocking smile from where he was propped up against where two walls meet.

As soon as a small hand reached out Luther shot into action. The threat was pulled quickly and efficiently into the room and slammed onto the ground as a woman's shriek pierced the silence.

"I'm sorry!" Luther shouted as soon as he saw the frightened lady hurrying to the other side of the room, moving backwards frantically on hands and knees. 

"Oh, nice going, real friendly."

"Shut up!" Luther shot at the other man before turning back to the woman and adding another small ‘sorry’.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." He continued. 

"Could have fooled me!"

"What do you want?!" The woman spat, ignoring the other man in the room for now.

"I- I thought you were-"

"What?!"

Luther paused. "I don't know. Are you okay?" He asked awkwardly.

Slurred giggles erupted from the other side of the room.

Luther opened his mouth to begin reprimanding the other before a frightened voice called out.

"Help! Hello?" It came through muffled by the metal walls. "Help!"

Rushing toward the sound Luther twisted the latch as fast as his hands could move. A harsh red light sprung from the room as well as the ladies anxious voice.

"...Help?"

She was clinging to one of the small ladders on the side of the wall like her life depended on it, eyes watery and down-turned. As soon as she saw Luther she rushed toward him, through the fright was still present in her eyes.

"Stop!" He called out. She froze, deathly still. Eyes pleading for someone to tell her everything was going to be okay.

She looked around her with as minimal movement as possible, eyes flicking over every corner of the room.

"What?" She breathed out, "What is it?"

Luther blinked slowly. He decided it was better not to tell the woman practically shaking like a leaf that he had come across not so pleasant things as he traversed the rooms.

"Just... Stay there. I'm coming to get you." He crept across the room and as soon as he was close enough to her, he grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her toward the room he came from, pushed her up the ladder and into the door.

She tripped over her own feet, causing a pair of glasses to fall and crack against the hard floor.

Great. She's going to be useless.

"It's okay, calm down. Everything's going to be fine." He said unconvincingly, less calming and more enforcing.

"What was in there?" The other woman asked forcefully.

"Just give me a minute to figure things out-"

"We don't have a minute! Why were you afraid of that room?!" She pushed. "We need to find a way out of here. He's concussed." She pointed firmly at the man leaning against the floor, hysterical smile on his face as he wiggled his fingers in their direction. 

"He's high."

"No, he has a head wound!"

"I said give me a minute-"

The door on the ceiling slid open. 

"How many people are in this thing?" Luther thought aloud. 

The man peering down from the roof gave Luther an unimpressed look, already disliking him.

"Listen, we can't just go climbing around in this thing!"

"Why not? Who died and put you in charge." The man above replied.

"There's traps-"

"What do you mean traps?" The more confident woman broke in.

"Booby traps." Luther began, "I looked in a room down there and something almost cut my head off."

A startled cry behind him made Luther turn his head. The girl who radiated anxiety was sitting next to the junkie, an innocent look in her eye. Like a young girl who thought there was a monster under her bed.

He really needed to ask everyone what their names were, because at the moment all he had to go on were the numbers embroidered onto their matching coveralls. 

Luther's said One. He was ashamed to admit a slight amount of pride filled his chest when he saw it.

"Seven, it's okay, here-" He picked the glasses off of the ground and offered them to her. 

She reached out nervously, a slight recognition in her eyes before she shook her head and took the glasses, tucking them back into the coveralls pocket.

"You're going to call her by the number you saw on her shirt? Really?" The other woman- Three said.

"Well what do you expect me to call her? She hasn't exactly given me a name, Three."

"I don't remember you giving one either, and its Allison. Use it or don't talk to me." She directed the next question to Seven, "What's your name sweetie?"

The ceiling man- Two, Luther noticed- gave a slight chuckle that was hidden behind a huff as he sat on the floor and began un-threading his laces from one boot and tying them onto the other. Seven made a little choking noise, like she struggled to get her single word out. "Vanya." She finally managed and Allison nodded, seemingly satisfied.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Allison spoke to the concussed man in an almost mother-like tone and while Luther rolled his eyes he also felt partially bad. From this angle he could see the blood dripping from the back of the guys head and maybe, slightly, Luther regretted referring to him as 'the junkie' in his mind.

"Klaus." 

"What?"

"My name, its Klaus." He smiled and gave an awful show of jazz hands in Allison's direction. "I hit my head."

Allison frowned deeply. "Let me take a look at that, Klaus." She tilted his head forward, inspecting the wound. "It doesn't look too bad."

Just then, Two jumped up with the boot he was tying his laces to, placing them in his mouth.

"What the hell are you doing?" Luther asked as he twisted one of the doors open with ease. Two didn't listen, instead he was busy inspecting the room on the other side of the door he had just opened.

"Hey! Did you hear what i said?"

The boot is flung into the room and before Luther could inquire again, four small holes opened up in the next room and began spraying fire with reckless abandon. The boot lay on the ground in a charred mess before Two pulled it back with it’s extra long boot laces.

"Trapped." Is all he says.

Luther levels him with a look that says 'well, obviously' before speaking.

"So the boot-"

"Motion detectors." Two interrupts, "Integrated into the walls. Tough to spot."

Vanya's panicked voice rings through the silence Two had created. "Oh, God."

Two climbs up to the next door, trusty boot in mouth before Luther grabs him back by the shoulder. 

"Hold on- Just- Lets all just relax for a minute." He swallows as everyone in the room gives him their attention. "Does anybody remember how they got here? Or, remember anything at all?"

Resounding silence.

He turns to Allison. "Anything?" He pushes. 

She looks down.

"Anyone?"

"We just woke up here, man." Comes the hushed reply from Klaus. 

So they had nothing. Fantastic.

\---

"Aliens." Klaus said. 

"Please," Luther began, "She's spooked enough as it is." He gestured to Vanya, still huddled in the corner. "Let's... Let's not go jumping to conspiracy theories right now. We need to concentrate on what we know."

"I won't be there." Vanya says softly, "They wont even notice."

"What? Be where? Vanya, do you remember something?" 

She looked up with clouded eyes, "I..." Vanya licked her lips and looked down as she thought, brow wrinkling. "I play violin. We have a concerto and- I'm not going to be there." 

Luther smiled, "So someone's going to know you're missing, someone'll look for you?" 

"No. They'll just replace me... I don't think any of them even know my name."

Luther's shoulders drop and Vanya gives him a sad apologetic look. Somebody in here had to have someone who cares about them, he thought, he knew that there had to be someone coming. So why did he need some sort of confirmation so badly? 

Two was still fiddling with the laces on his boots, tying knots and looping them around. He seemed to be the one who would be the most helpful and Luther was grateful he wasn't the only tough guy in this place. He didn't much like babysitting.

"What do you think Two?"

"I think making us sit here is a load of bullshit. We won't solve jack shit just twiddling our thumbs. I'm moving in a straight line 'till i get to the end of this thing."

Luther had to agree, that probably was the best option.

"Shouldn't we wait here?" Allison piped up. 

"For what?" Two raised his eyebrow at her.

"To see if anyone comes?" She spoke as if she thought they were all morons.

Klaus giggled from the floor. "No one's gonna come, darling."

"Look," Two got up into Allison's face, "There was a way in here, that means there's a way out. We avoid the traps using the boot. We look for an exit, or you can sit here and rot. Up to you."

Luther and Allison shared a look before nodding toward Two.

"What about you?" Luther directs at the man on the ground.

Klaus rolls his eyes, picking his head up to look them in the eye. "It can't be that simple."

"It won't be simple." Says Two. "Look around. Have a good, long look. I've got a feeling there's something looking back."

The groups eyes flicked over their shared space anxiously.

"We just have to stay calm." Luther broke the silence, "We need to work together as a team, between the five of us there's gotta be a lot of people looking for us on the outside, yeah? We're gonna get out of here, I promise, but you have to do as i say."

"You sound like a cop." Klaus laughs as Two glares.

"What's wrong with being a cop?"

Everyone's eyes flicked toward him. 

"You a cop, man?" 

Two glanced around, "M-Maybe." He stuttered, unsure. "Don't remember. Feels right." He climbs up the side of a door after shoving his boot laces in his mouth. 

"Okay, check the room." 

"You're not in charge of me." Two aims the boot for the other side of the room anyway, boot laces wrapped around his wrist. "You ain't cop material either." He says under his breath.

The boot flies into the room and Two sits for a second, watching. 

"Clean." He finally calls, climbing into the room himself.

It goes on like this for a while, Two throwing boots into rooms and watching them land safely or get horribly slashed, burned and diced while the rest look on.

They climb into a mint green room and mechanical factory sounds begin rumbling through the walls, awful screeching sounds that shake the entire room. 

Vanya catches herself on the bridge between rooms, gasping as it shook. Once again her glasses fall out of her coverall pocket.

It's not a very deep pocket.

Vanya reaches down for them, hands and knees in the gap between rooms and makes a surprised noise. Her glasses had fallen right on top of an engraved metal label.

"That sounded closer." Commented Allison.

"Its mechanical. Seems to come at irregular intervals," Replied Two.

"Maybe it's the ventilation system?" Luther added.

"No vents." Two tapped on the solid wall. "Moron."

Vanya tuned them out as she slid her glasses on and read the numbers. 

566 472 737.

"What is it?" Luther exclaimed, turning to see why she hadn't climbed through. 

Allison tipped her head in next to his and pointed down at what Vanya was tracing with her fingers.

"Serial numbers?" Luther asked.

"Maybe, room numbers?" Allison replied.

Vanya turned back to look at the metal plate on the room they had just come from. "They're different in each room i think."

"Oh, great." Came Klaus from behind her, "Well, there's only 566 million, 400 thousand-odd rooms in this thing!"

"There better fucking not be." Allison grit her teeth.

"We have about three days without food and water until we're too weak to move." Luther said solemnly.

"Well," Vanya tilted her head up, "They have to feed us... Don't they?"

Allison levelled Luther with a warning glare but he kept speaking like she never had. 

"We have heat, stress, physical exertion, dehydration-"

"Headaches, dizziness, disorientation, confused mental processes." Two added with a smirk. "The body eventually begins to break down its own tissue." 

Vanya's breathing noticeably quickened.

"Suck on it." Two said softly, pulling a button off of her coveralls. "Makes your mouth think you're eating, gets the saliva flowing, keeps your mouth from getting dry." He opened his mouth where his own button sat on his tongue. She took it from his hand with a soft ‘thank you’.

\---

Another boot flew into another room. 

"Clear." Said Luther, about to climb through. 

"Wait." Two grabbed him by the collar, pulling him back.

"It's clear."

"Is it?"

Climbing up the ladder himself, Two leaned his face through the bridge and sniffed. 

"I don't trust that."

Luther huffed, "Oh, what? Too scared that your suit'll get a little odour? No offence, but you don't smell too-"

"No, you idiot. The air... It's too dry in there."

The rest of them looked toward Two, waiting for him to explain.

"Molecular chemical sensor. Detects hydrogen sulphide excreted from the skin."

"So why the hell didn't the boot set it off?"

Klaus calls from across the room, "The boots not alive, dipshit."

Luther recoiled at that slightly before changing the subject. 

"How is it you know so much about sensors, Two?"

"Diego."

"Fine, your names Diego. I'm asking you how- Diego." Luther paused, mulling the name over in his mind. In all honesty, Luther had a sense of deja vu with everyone's names but this time, he remembered something.

"Diego. I don't believe it.” He gave a small laugh “You aren't a cop."

This made Diego whip around, "What?"

Luther smiled excitedly, "I remember! No you- You're not a cop. Vigilante. You didn't even make it past the police academy."

"How the hell do you know that." Diego said coldly.

"Are you telling me you remember?" Said Allison as Vanya simultaneously cried "Vigilante? You can get us out!"

"Maybe?" Both men said to their respective conversation.

"What do you mean maybe? Either you remember something or you don't. You know him?"

"No! Yes? I- I know of him?"

"Tell me a bit about myself then, because i sure as hell don't remember a thing." 

"It's complicated." Luther struggled to explain. "I- I know you’re a vigilante but I... I don't know why or how i know that? I'm sorry. I don't know who you are." 

Diego huffed, "Well, that was useless." He said, throwing his boot into another room.

"A vigilante, is that like a- um- like some sort of escape artist or-"

"Yeah, I'm Harry fucking Houdini." Diego replied to Vanya with a roll of his eyes. "A vigilante fights the crime that the cops are too chicken shit to look at." 

Vanya's shoulders dropped, "But... You can still help us get out right? I mean you know so much-"

"Listen lady, the only reason i dragged you all this far is cause i need your boots." He lifted up the previously thrown boot to emphasise. "If you don't smarten up, i'm gone like that." Punctuating his sentence with a snap of his fingers.

He jumped into the room, bare feet hitting the ground roughly.

Click. 

"Shit."

A small hole opened with an electronic buzz and shot opaque liquid toward Diego, hitting him straight in the face. The mechanical whirr of the door automatically closing was drowned out by his own screams.

"Get it open!" Allison shrieked as the door began locking into place.

Luther wasted no time, twisting the doors handle and pulling it back open in record time. He looked up and was met with Diego, struggling to climb through. Luther stood in shock as the place where Diego's face used to be was now nothing but a grotesque melted void. Blood dripped down onto the door as Luther grabbed Diego under the arms and pulled him back into the room with them. His screams lessened, now just a messy, painful gurgling. 

Distantly Luther heard the screams of the others behind him, but all he could focus on was Diego's non-existent face as he dropped him to the floor.


	2. Prime Numbers

The room was silent except for Vanya's soft sobs. They'd been sitting there for a while, at least twenty minutes Luther thinks, mourning a man they hardly knew.

They need to get back on track. 

"So." 

Allison shoots him a harsh glare. He continues.

"It was electro-chemical or whatever, and he missed it." 

"We distracted him." Klaus said emotionless. "We're to blame."

"Maybe, if i hadn't talked to him while he was checking the room-" 

"No Vanya, sweetie." Allison interrupted, wrapping an arm around the smaller girls shoulders, "This wasn't your fault." 

"All right." Luther says loudly, commanding attention. "We need to reassess this place."

"We've been over it! Again and again and again!" Allison snarled.

"Why would they throw innocent people in here?" Vanya exclaimed softly.

"Maybe we're being punished." Klaus said airily.

"I've never done anything to deserve this, and they haven't either." Luther said pointedly, gesturing to the two girls.

"But i have?" Klaus replied.

"Forget about all that!" Luther was beginning to get fed up with this downer. "We can't see the big picture from in here so don't try, just keep your head down. Keep it simple. Just look at what's right in front of you. Let's start with us." He said standing in the centre of the room.

"We've got a vigilante and a- whatever i am, what else?"

"We had a vigilante-"

"Shut up Klaus, now isn't the time! There's gotta be a reason, some kind of purpose! Why were we chosen?"

Allison looked down at her hands, "I- I'm an actress? I did uh- charity work. I have a first aid certificate-"

"First aid. That gives you a function."

"I'm not a doctor."

"You don't need to be. The point is you have a reason to be here."

"No! It just makes me think, 'why me?' Why not one of the other ten million people out there who can do mouth to mouth?"

Luther sighed heavily. 

"Vanya. What are you?"

Vanya looked surprised at being addressed and took a moment choking on her own words. "Nothing." She finally said. "I'm nothing. I just play violin and, and teach music to kids."

"What else?"

"There is nothing else. I- I live in a small apartment, I make weird sandwiches, I'm nothing. I'm boring."

"Weird sandwiches?" Klaus perked up. "Why weird sandwiches?"

"I don't know! This is all i remember i just, said everything i was thinking."

"Okay that's enough." Allison said, "I think we have to ask the big questions here. What do they want? What are they thinking?"

"One down, four to go." Klaus muttered.

A heavy tension filled the room. Suffocating.

"Why don't you tell us what your purpose is, Klaus." Luther looked down at him, laying on the floor pathetically.

Klaus gave a little chuckle in response, "Often wondered that myself, big guy." 

Luther's piercing gaze looked directly into Klaus' eyes, making him sign, dropping his head against his chest.

"I'm just a guy. I live on the streets, I buy drugs. I'm not exactly the Queen of England okay, my life sucked before and it sucks now. i just get the joy of dying in a box instead of a street corner."

"I can't stand that attitude." Allison squinted at him, shaking her head.

"Why? 'Cause I'm right? Hey, What's your purpose uh- One?"

"Luther." 

"Is that your boyfriend? How sweet!"

"It's my name." Luther growled. "My purpose? All of you. I don't know what the fuck is going on but i know one thing," He points to the number embroidered on his coverall, "I'm One. That makes me responsible for all of you, for your safety. I'm getting you out of here no matter what."

Klaus erupted into mocking giggles.

"For God's sake Klaus, what do you live for? Don't you have a wife or a girlfriend or something?"

"I had a pretty nice stash of pornography."

"Oh, nice," Allison breaks in, "Real fucking nice."

"Well what do you live for then darling?"

"I don't know about you but I'm pissed. They came into our houses, they stripped us bare, they took my ring. They- They took the necklace my daughter gave me."

Allison sunk to the floor, shocked look on her face.

"My daughter."

Luther looked over at her, noticing a small tear make it's way down her face. He felt the urge to reach out and comfort her but right now, he had more important matters. Matters like the important information Allison had just given them.

"They took her jewellery, but they didn't take your glasses. No, you haven't been wearing them this whole time right?" He directed at Vanya, "If you don't need them to see, why did they put them in your pocket?"

"They're reading glasses." She answers softly.

"Reading. They needed you to read." 

"I don't think-"

"Vanya come here." He opened one of the doors and gestured for her to climb in the bridge to the next room with him. 

"Math." He said. "You need to read the numbers, they want you to read the numbers." 

"What could they mean?" Said Allison from the floor.

Vanya put on her glasses and looked at the numbers hard. 

"149." She whispered. "Hold on, open that one."

Luther pulled open the door to the room that had caused Diego's demise.

"Prime numbers?" She said to herself. "Maybe-"

"Vanya what have you figured out."

"I don't- I, well, I think that if any of these numbers are a prime, then the room is trapped?"

"You're sure?"

"Honestly? No. I don't even study maths that was my- my brother. I used to sit with him while he read advanced books to me, i made him sandwiches."

"Ah," Klaus exclaimed like it was all coming together, "Weird sandwiches."

"Are you confident enough though?" Luther pushed. 

"I think so."

"Hold on." Allison said, grabbing Vanya's shoulder. "How can you be so sure based on, what, one trapped room? What if it's a fluke, or there's no pattern."

"The incinerator thing, that was prime. Then the molecular chemical thing had 137 and the acid room had 149. Those are both prime numbers."

"You remember all that in your head?" Klaus exclaimed.

"I have a good memory." Vanya shrugged.

Luther held up his hand to stop the conversation, he opened another door. "What's this one say."

Vanya walked over and looked intently at the numbers, murmuring to herself. "Not prime. This one's safe, i think."

"Allison," Luther called out, "Throw me that boot."

Luther caught the boot Allison had throw in his direction, tied the laces around his wrist and tossed it into the room Vanya had said was clear. 

Nothing happened.

Luther crawled through the bridge between rooms and slowly set his feet inside. 

Nothing happened. 

"Safe." He said, a slight impressed tone in his voice. He turned back toward Vanya with a smile, "Prime numbers." 

\---

"How long have we been in here?" Klaus sighed as Vanya cleared another room. 

"Nine or ten hours." Was Luther's confident reply.

"How do you know that?"

"Five o'clock shadow."

"Guess we missed breakfast... Lunch." Allison added wistfully.

"Don't worry," Luther began, "With Vanya, We'll be back in time for dinner."

"Luther, if we get out of here," Allison replied, "I'll make you dinner."

"It's a date."

\---

"These numbers aren't prime." Vanya said softly, sounding exhausted. It was taking her longer and longer to figure out what numbers are prime and what aren't. Luther was getting worried.

After helping Vanya and Allison into the next room, Luther caught Klaus at the door. 

"You could try to help me out a bit here." 

"No uh, I really couldn't." The infuriating man smiled back at him as he climbed into the next room.

Luther eyed him as Vanya went around checking the rooms. He slumped into the corner, just like he did every time they changed rooms, not bothering to offer any help, seemingly amused by their will to push forward. Maybe Luther should have left him on the floor of that first room.

"This one's trapped too?" Vanya's voice brought him back.

"What?"

"They're all trapped. They're all prime except for the one we came from." Vanya said sadly.

Allison gave an annoyed huff. "We have to backtrack?" 

"Not yet." Klaus said softly, pointing up. 

The one door Vanya hadn't checked. The ceiling. Luther and Allison shared a look after taking in Vanya's weak frame. 

"Read them to her." Was Allison's solution. "Climb up there, and read them to her." 

Tying the top of his coveralls around his waist he grabbed onto one of the small ladders built into the side of the room, pulling himself up. When he made his way to the top he swung across the ladders embedded into the ceiling until he reached the door. 

Gripping the ladder one handed was barely a challenge for Luther, but trying to twist the latch to the door was tricky, it definitely felt like a two hand job but eventually he got it open. 

However before he could swing up into the bridge between rooms a small shout surprised him, making him fall.

Looking around he saw someone new, laying on the floor with him, rubbing their own head.

Shit. It's a kid. 

"Allison." He says softly, nudging his head toward the kid. She was the only one of them who said she had children, after all.

She was already on it, crawling over to them slowly. "Hey there," She began softly, "Are you okay, sweetie? Are you all alone?"

The kid blinked at her, hand still holding the top of his head. This is just what they needed, Luther thought bitterly.

"I'm fine. Don't call me 'sweetie'." The kid spat. Allison didn't take any mind of their tone but Luther glared harshly.

"Listen, kid-"

"I'm not a kid." 

Luther sighed deeply. 

"Listen," He looked at their coverall, "Five."

"Luther!" Allison shouted. "Leave them alone, they just fell from the roof."

"He almost broke my damn neck!" Luther shouted back.

"Stop, you're going to scare them." Vanya said calmly as she brushed the kids fringe to the side. 

With both women doting on them, the kid smiled up at Luther mockingly, all teeth. 

With a calmer voice, Luther tried again. "Listen, Five, we're all in this together so-"

"Luther, they have a name! What's your name, darling?" They pulled another nasty face at Allison calling them 'darling' and Klaus let out a small laugh.

The kid looked down, looked back up. Pointed at their coverall. 

"Five."

"No, your- Not the number, what's your name?"

"Five."

They smiled again, looking deep into Allison’s eyes. Allison shivered and looked away.

"Safe, obviously." Luther said, pointing upward. "Since he nearly fell on my head."

The others all ignored him, Allison and Vanya checking Five over for bumps and scrapes while Klaus stayed in his own little world in the corner of the room.

\---

"Could they have taken us all the way to New Mexico?" Five inquired.

"What are you talking about, Five?" Luther asked, annoyed.

"I'm talking about where you hide something this big."

Luther frowned as Klaus clapped his hands, "At least he's good for something! So, Five. Aliens. What do you think."

"Shut up." Luther groaned. There's two of them. Fantastic.

"Aliens aren't real, loser." Thank God the kid has some sense, Luther thought.

"Do you have any idea where your tax dollars are going? This is why i don't pay taxes." 

"You're thirteen, you don't pay taxes anyway." Allison said with a smile.

"Okay fine, that's why he doesn't pay taxes." Five refuted, pointing to Klaus.

"Pretty sure I just don't pay taxes because i don't want to but whatever floats your boat, my little friend."

"Don't call me little." Was Five's cold reply.

"Can we stop talking about taxes?" Luther said. "We have more important things to do, like, get out of here."

"Listen," Five started, eyes wide, "All i'm saying is that only the military industrial complex could afford to build something this size."

"Five, do you even know what the industrial military complex is? Have you ever been there?"

"No, of course not. Unlike you, I'm not wrapped around the governments little finger."

"It's not that complicated." Luther growled, Klaus' laughs almost drowning him out.

"Well how would you know Luther? Do you work for the government?" 

"If you don't shut up i'm going to-"

"Luther!" Allison yelled, "If you touch that kid, you'll wish you didn't."

"How come she gets to call you kid?" Klaus whined.

Five just gave him a toothy cheshire cat smile.

"Look, enough damn conspiracy theories, please. The government isn't some secret establishment okay? It's just normal people like you or me. They don't conspire, they-" He waved his arms around.

"Spend their huge paychecks on even huger boats for even huger parties?" Vanya said, a joking tone to her voice.

Luther pointed at her as if to say 'see? she gets it.'

"That sounds like something a cop would say." Five looked at Luther pointedly. 

"Oh my God." Klaus gasped. "I literally just said that earlier."

Five looked toward Luther defiantly. "If it's not the government then who could it be?" 

"Aliens."

"No, Klaus."

"I can't believe i'm arguing with a ten year old."

"Thirteen." Five enunciated, glaring at Luther. 

Allison sighed loudly. "I can't believe you act like a ten year old, Luther." 

Before Luther could get a word in, Vanya jumped up, "Hey, what if this is just some rich psycho's entertainment?"

The room erupted into laughter.

"Is that seriously what you think?" Luther asked pointedly. More laughter followed.

"We get it," Klaus said, pulling himself up into the next room. "You're a cop with no sense of humour."

"I'm not a cop!"

"So you admit you have no sense of humour?" Five said.

Luther opened his mouth but was cut off by a harsh choking, everyone turned to the room Klaus had just jumped into to see him standing in the middle of the floor, hands clasping his throat as he coughed and struggled to breath.

"Gas!" Allison called out. "It's trapped! Klaus, get back here!"

Klaus took one final spluttering cough before swallowing deeply.

"Klaus?"

He turned toward them, smile plastered on his face.

"I'm okay! Not trapped, just swallowed my button." 

"I am going to kill you." Five said.

"Vanya." Luther waved her over. "What are these ones." He opened another door.

"God, it's like i'm in high school cramming for exams again." She muttered, "Only this time there's no coffee."

"She needs a break." Klaus said.

"She can do it."

"Luther-"

"She can do it." He said more forcefully.

Five jumped up to see what Vanya was looking at, "They don't look prime to me." He said after only glancing at the numbers for a second.

"Well?" Luther said, pushing Five out the way and urging Vanya to work faster.

"I think he's right..." She said, looking back at Five curiously. "These aren't prime."

"Are you sure?"

"Why don't you go in and test it out?" Klaus said, giving Luther a cruel look.

"I'm sure, they aren't prime."

Luther jumped into the room, which was eerily silent. He took a step forward. 

"Luther!" Allison called out in fear. 

He turned his head to see her staring just past him, "In front of you." She whispered. He looked closer and sure enough, there were strings of razor wire tightening quickly. For just a moment he was shocked as he watched them come toward him, mechanical sounds all he could hear.

"No-!" 

Slice.


	3. "Fourteen, twenty seven, fourteen."

He'd pulled himself up back into the previous room in record time, as soon as he hit the ground he screamed, clutching his leg.

Luther had jumped out of the way of the wire just seconds before it had sliced right through him, however it had caught his leg on the way out. 

A thin piece of skin slid off of his leg as he screamed again and Allison quickly ripped off the top of her coverall, pressing it against his leg.

"Oh, God!" He cried as she pressed down on it, hard. 

"I don't know what happened!" Vanya cried, "It wasn't prime!"

"Hold still Luther!" Allison yelled as she wrapped the shirt around his leg as many times as it would go.

Klaus laughed, "Well, this is fucked." He said.

"Shut the fuck up, Klaus!" Luther cried out, "If this is so fucking funny to you then go find your own way out of here!" 

"No he- He doesn't mean that-" Vanya tried to grab Klaus' arm, fearful he might actually leave.

"Klaus," Said Allison calmly. "Please, can you go back to the other room." A soft look appeared on Allison’s face and she turned toward him, "Just until Luther calms down." 

Eventually under Allison's pleading gaze and Luther’s, filled with fire, Klaus pulled himself up and into the door they had previously came out of, shutting it behind himself.

Vanya moved to follow him until Luther gruffly shouted, "Stay." Halting her movements. Five crossed his arms, keeping close to Vanya.

"I had a feeling about that guy," Luther began. "He knew it was a fucking trap."

"Those numbers weren't prime." Five said firmly.

"Then Vanya's number system failed, but he knew."

"Knew what?" Said Allison, "What would he possibly know?"

"His only function so far has been to kick us while we're down!" He turned his head toward Five, "You're the paranoid one, think about it."

"So he has a bad attitude," Allison said, trying to diffuse the situation as she saw Five's angry face. "That doesn't make him, what, a spy?"

"Trust me on this Allison." She simply looked at him, warning him. 

A soft knock tapped at the door. "Can i come back in now?"

Allison and Luther stared each other down for what felt like an eternity. 

"Yes, Klaus." Five called out, "You can come back in now." 

Luther looked at the kid in surprise, Five simply smiled at him. A cruel smile. A 'no one's on your side and you know it' smile. 

"So," Klaus broke the silence. "What happened?" 

"You know what happened." Luther spat venomously.

"Luther." Allison said firmly.

"It wasn't prime." Vanya whispered helplessly.

Five frowned, "I guess the numbers are more complicated than you thought."

Klaus scoffed, "Maybe they mean nothing at all."

"No," Five looked Klaus in the eye. "It means they're more involved. They worked for you all up until now didn't they?"

"I just need some more time." Said Vanya breathlessly.

"No, you need rest." Klaus said.

"We all need to rest." Allison glanced at Luther's leg.

\---

Vanya scratched more numbers into the metal wall with the edge of her button. 

"The ones from that door?" She asked as Five climbed up and read them out.

"Are they telling you anything?" Allison asked, an impatient tone filling her voice. 

Five glared back, "They're not tarot cards. Do you have any idea how many variables we have to consider before we can decipher numbers of this size?"

Vanya nodded softly, stepping back from the rows of numbers etched into the metal. "They don't reveal themselves right away."

"Like people." Said Luther, glancing over at Klaus. "You find this all pretty funny don't you?" 

Klaus grinned up at him.

Leaning over the other man Luther's face stopped dead so close to Klaus they were practically touching noses. He stared into Klaus' eyes, attempting to intimidate him.

"What's your fucking problem, Luther?" Klaus said is a teasing tone.

"Get over there and help him." He said, pointing at Five struggling to climb into the doors to read out the numbers. "That's your job." He lowered his voice. "Baby-sitter."

"Jawohl kommandant." Klaus says, exaggerating his own accent and punctuating it with a tiny army salute.

"Somebody has to take responsibility around here."

"Oh, and that somebody has to be you?"

"Not all of us have the luxury of sitting around playing nihilist."

"Not all of us are conceited enough to play hero." 

The air between them is cold. 

Luther grabs a hold of Klaus' collar, "This is called a will to live. Everybody's got it, Klaus, even you." He shook Klaus slightly, "Especially you. Hide behind that cynical front all you like but if you really wanted to, you could have just laid down and died. Why'd you lug it all this way?"

"For the entertainment." Was Klaus' simple reply.

Luther walked over and opened one of the doors that neither Vanya nor Five had inspected yet, turning back to Klaus slowly, challenging. "Do it. Be a man."

Everyone in the room was silent, watching their exchange cautiously. Klaus sits on the floor, un-moving and not showing any sign of considering Luther's challenge.

"Thought so." The door clicked as it closed.

"Fuck you, Luther." Klaus choked out. "I don't wanna die."

They had a small stand-off filling the room with tension as if it were only them. Five was fed up beyond belief.

"He's just being realistic." He said sternly. "Do you think they'd go to all the trouble to build this thing if we could just walk out of it."

"Do you think they would have left us clues and let us make it this far if there wasn't a way out?" Luther turned to Five incredulously.

"You think we matter?" Klaus spat. "We don't."

"That's enough." Allison went unheard.

"Put us out of your misery, Klaus." 

"You aren't getting out of here, Luther."

"Yes, we are." 

"No, you're not."

"Yes, we are!"

"There is no fucking way out of here!" Klaus shouted, releasing all of his anger and frustration. "There's no way out." He said softer, smiling uncomfortably at the ground.

Luther smiled. Got him.

"How... Do you know that for sure, Klaus?" Allison asked.

Sweat dripped from Klaus' face, soaking his shirt. He stared ahead blankly, as if he hadn't heard Allison's question.

"Klaus." She tried again.

"Who are you?" Luther asked accusingly.

"I hear the voices." He replied, still looking blankly ahead. "There's no way out. None of them- They never found a way out."

"What?" Allison said softly.

"The outer shell... It's like a sarcophagus. We're trapped in here, just like the rest of them."

"Outer shell, hold on-" Five piped up, "What do you mean?"

"The exterior, it's just a big suffocating box. No way out."

"You built this thing?!" Luther stepped forward threateningly.

"What? No! The- I don't know anything," Klaus said. "They tell me... I hear them in the walls. We found one once- None of you- You couldn't see him. He just kept screaming. Just sitting in the corner and screaming. I think they all died in here." 

Five pulled at Klaus' arm, "Tell me more, what else do they say?" 

Luther opened his mouth but Five held up his hand, halting Luther's words.

"It's- I don't know. One of them, I think he built some of it, just the outside. It's a hollow shell, a cube. He kept repeating the dimensions like a madman I-"

"A cube?" Whispered Vanya.

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Allison said.

Klaus chuckled, "Would you even have believed me?" He glanced at Luther, "You don't even believe me right now." 

Allison looked near tears. "For God's sake, Klaus. You knew what it was."

"No..." He whispered.

"Yes." Said Luther. "You're lying."

Klaus smiled down at Five sadly. Like he knew what was about to happen.

"You're lying. You've known this whole time. I knew you were involved in this mess. Stop hiding behind your bullshit 'voices' excuse and give us some fucking answers, who's behind it?" He pushed Klaus up against the wall.

"I don't know." Klaus spat. "I don't even think half of them know, they're just people, like us-" 

"Who hired you?" Luther continued with his interrogation.

"Nobody. I don't work for- I don't have any part in this."

"Then how do you know-"

"I just told you!"

"Bullshit!" Klaus' face was starting to turn blue as Luther squeezed him against the wall, lifted up from the floor by a decent amount of inches. He heard a shocked gasp behind him and he turned to see everyone looking at him in fear, shaking against the other side of the room. "He's up to his eyeballs in this thing!" Luther said, trying to defend himself.

"He doesn't know anything." Allison said confidently, swallowing quickly when she met Luther's eyes.

Allison had a hold of both Vanya and Five with an iron grip. "Luther." She said calmly. "Put him down." Luther frowned, suddenly feeling guilty. Allison’s gaze stayed firm.

He dropped Klaus to the floor.

"Even if he is lying-" Five began, ignoring the horrified looks from both Allison and Vanya, "He wouldn't know anything anyway. This is how they work. You keep everything separated so the left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing-"

"Five, not now." 

"What are you going on about?"

"Leave it!"

"Well it's all the same machine, right?" He said louder, eyes wide like he'd just been offered candy. "The Pentagon, multinational corporations, the police. Everyone does one little job, nobody knows the big picture." He gestured wide.

"Be quiet, Five." 

So Five did. Klaus had never sounded so serious, even before there were still nervous smiles and anxious laughter, or a sweet mocking tone. This was solid despair.

"There's no conspiracy." He continued. "Nobody's in charge, it's just a- a headless blunder. There's no master plan. It's just people, making mistakes and not knowing what the hell they're apart of."

Five slumped against the wall.

"Sorry." Klaus whispered. "But this thing? This is an accident. Some sort of forgotten, perpetual public works project that nobody wants to ask questions about. All they want is a clear conscience."

"Why put people in it?" Vanya finally said when the air became still.

"Because it's here." 

That silenced everyone, except Luther.

"You make me sick." 

"I didn't do this, Luther." Klaus replied. "Everyone did it. Together. Everyone's part of the system. It's like you said earlier, keep your head down, just look at what's in front of you." He quoted.

"Well, i feel better." Klaus finished.

"That's why you stayed with us." Allison commented, "To tell us we're all ruining the world together?"

"To be fair, I've felt guilty about contributing to ruining the world since I was like seven." Said Five, "It's why I'm vegan."

Luther clenched his jaw, head leaning against the wall. The stress must be getting to him, the stress of being Number One, of trying to keep them all safe. That's what he was doing. He was keeping them all safe. Even if he had to keep them safe from themselves. 

He punched Klaus is the stomach without warning, causing Vanya to stumble away and fall. Another punch came quickly after and Luther tuned out the voices pleading him to stop. Another and another, punch upon punch. Klaus looked so weak, weak enough that Luther could just-

"Stop!" Allison cried, grabbing Luther's fist in midair. She was too weak, far too weak to stop his hand, that's why she needs his protection. Despite this, his hand still froze right before it connected with Klaus' abdomen.

Klaus dropped to the ground, groaning, before rolling over on the floor and grabbing his chest. 

"Klaus." Five said, appearing above his face.

Klaus waited for his eyes to refocus, he could distantly hear Allison, yelling like a woman scorned. "H-Hi." He smiled up at the kid.

"You said there's an outer shell." They waited patiently for Klaus' response.

"Ye- Ah. Yes."

"It's a cube, correct? Like the one we're standing in, but bigger."

"I assume so." 

"Did these... Voices, mention any doors?" 

"The guy, he-" Klaus coughed softly, "One door. He said there was only-"

"Where?"

Klaus looked up at Five amused, "Wherever the door guy put it." Five tilted their head. "I don't know, useless anyway, he was ranting- sealed from the outside."

"Dimensions. You said he was raving about dimensions earlier. Do you remember what they were?"

"F-Four hundred, thirty four feet square."

Five jumped up, throwing their button in their mouth and casually walked to one end of the room. They straightened their shoulders and began taking equal steps, from one end to the other.

"Fourteen by fourteen, by fourteen." They called out when they were done. They turned to Vanya, "The inner cube can't be flush to the shell wall, there has to be a space."

"One cube?" Vanya said.

"Don't know." Five replied. "Makes sense."

"The biggest that the cube can be then-" Vanya says, pulling her button out of her mouth and scratching on the walls, "Is- hold on- twenty six rooms high, twenty six rooms across, so..."

"17,576 rooms." Five states. 

Vanya and Five's eyes simultaneously widen as they stare at each other.

"Descartes." Vanya offers. Five nods giddily at the mention of the french mathematician and rushes to one of the doors, opening it quickly.

"Five, you genius." Vanya says. 

"Give yourself some credit." Is their snappy reply.

"What?" Luther says in a low voice and both of them turn wearily, almost forgetting he was there.

"Coded Cartesian coordinates." Five says. "They're used in geometry to plot points on a 3-dimensional graph."

At Luther and Allison's confused faces Vanya steps in, "The numbers are markers," She begins explaining.

"Bonjour!" Five shouts tapping against the metal with their button, clearly already onto something.

"Like a grid reference," Vanya continues, "Like uh- latitude and longitude on a map, but 3-D. They could tell us where we are inside the cube."

"So where are we?" Allison asks.

"Well we just have to add the numbers together-"

"'X' coordinate is nineteen." Five muttered. "'Y' is..." He turns toward Vanya, smiling.

"That places us seven rooms from the edge." Vanya says.

"Well, what are we waiting for then." Luther says, as if he believes he's still in charge.

"Just out of curiosity-" Klaus pipes up from his place on the floor, "I mean, don't hit me again or anything-"

"Out with it."

"What are you gonna do when you get there?" 

"Maybe," Luther says, back turned to Klaus, "We can get the damn door open."

"What we need to do now," Five interrupted, "Is figure out a reliable way to get around the traps."

"I'm dealing with that." 

"Oh," Allison said, crossing her arms, "It's you who's been dealing with that, is that right?" Vanya looks down, looking like she wants to fold in on herself.

"I'm looking for practical solutions-" 

"Well you haven't found any yet!" Allison shouted.

"We cut the risk!" Luther answered. "We use the- the numbers, and the boot. Klaus goes in first-" 

"No! We take turns, Luther!" Allison pushed him as hard as she could.

He barely stumbled.

Nobody moved.

"We take turns." He finally said.

\---

"What's wrong?" Vanya said softly.

"These coordinates..." Five ran his fingers across them again. "Fourteen, twenty seven, fourteen."

"What? That doesn't make sense." She put her glasses on to read the numbers for herself.

"Exactly. Assuming the cube is twenty six rooms across then there can't be a coordinate larger than twenty six, right?"

Vanya nodded, "If this were right then... We would be outside of the cube."

Five made a big show of looking around, "Are we outside of the cube? No, we aren't."

Foolishly, they kept moving.


	4. The Edge

"I hope this one's safe." Luther grumbled, opening the last door they had yet to check. Allison dangled a boot down into the hole on the floor. Nothing happened.

"Clear?" She said.

She leaned her face close to exit, sniffing the air slightly, like she had seen Diego do earlier. 

"Doesn't seem different to me?" 

Five leaned his head over the edge, "Are there any other ways we'd know if it were trapped?" 

"Is it prime?" Asked Luther

"That didn't work, remember?"

"Well how did we make it this goddamn far with that system then?!"

Five shrugged, "Now that we've figured out the numbers are coordinates, I think it's safe to say they don't really have anything to do with the traps. You guys made it as far as you did with sheer dumb luck." 

"Well how did you make it so far?"

"I didn't." Five said, "I hadn't moved from where i woke up, wasn't going to risk it until i could figure out a plan. Then you swept the floor out from under me."

"Literally." Klaus added.

"Well," Allison began, "This is the only room that hasn't obviously had a trap in it, barring the one we came through. I'd say it's safe."

"I mean what else can we do?" Asked Klaus, "I think you're going a bit overboard. If we sit here long enough the room isn't going to go 'hey, be careful, i'm trapped!'"

"If you hear voices like you say, why don't you ask the room if it's trapped?" Luther mocked. 

"Toodle-oo! Are you trapped, my fine metal friend?" Klaus called into the room, loudly.

A mechanical click sounded as Klaus' voice echoed through the room. Wire thin, sleek metal rods cut through the air at lightning speed, so fast that no one was entirely sure of what they had seen. Everyone looked at Klaus, who in turn looked just as shocked and mystified as the rest of them.

"Did the room just answer him?" Vanya whispered.

"Hello!?" Allison called into the room, this time watching carefully as the rods dissected the room.

"Oh." Said Five. "Sound activated."

Vanya turned to Five, "How come the sound of the door opening didn't set it off? It's louder than us talking quietly right now, maybe that's the loudest that anyone can be before the trap activates?"

"Nah," Answered Five, "It's probably just rigged to ignore that specific sound."

"So we do have to backtrack." Allison sighed. "Who knows how many detours we'll have to make before we get back to the edge of the cube?"

"We're two cubes away. We can't afford anymore time. I say we cross it." 

"Luther, that's mad!"

"It's sound activated, right? We just need to be quiet, until we get to the room on the other side. The room at the edge."

"What if that rooms trapped as well?" Five says.

Luther paused to think for a moment. 

"We send you." He finally said. "You go down there, test the room. Thumbs up if its safe, thumbs down if it's not."

"Are you crazy?" Allison yelled. "They're just a kid!" For once Five didn't retaliate with their usual 'i'm more mature than you think' spiel.

"Exactly!" Said Luther, "He's small, so he'll make less sound when moving through the room and he'll be able to fit his whole body comfortably into the bridge between rooms. If he makes any sound checking the next room then the sound activated trap won't get him!"

Five picked up a boot.

"No!" Allison grabbed the boot out of Five's hands as Vanya began softly crying.

"He's right." Five said, accepting their fate. "I'd be the best for the job."

"Bullshit, I'm not putting a- a kid- in those sorts of circumstances. I'm going."

"Allison, no! It's too risky, you'll be safe here."

Allison paused. Turned her head slowly toward Luther.

"What," She spat. "Did you just say?" She met Luther's eyes. "It's too risky for me? But you're fine sending a twelve year old down there, right?" 

"Thirteen." Five corrected softly, Vanya hiccuped and cried louder.

Luther looked like he had been beat, he glanced between Five and Allison with a sigh of defeat. Vanya's cries grated on his nerves.

"We send Vanya." 

Pandemonium. Allison stepped threateningly into Luther’s personal space, shouting at him with vigour as Five tugged at Luther's arm, pleading with him, sounding more upset than they ever had. Vanya's cries grew and Klaus' disbelieving laughter echoed through the room.

"Shut up." Luther said softly, drowned out by the others. "Shut up! Allison, Vanya's smaller than-"

"I'll go! I'll-" Five yelled.

"No, I'll go." The room silenced.

"That's what you want isn't it?" Klaus continued. "I'm thin, I can be quiet. You want me to volunteer. You need Five and Vanya- Maybe just one or the other i suppose but both would be better- To get out of here. God knows you only actually give a shit about Allison, even though she hates your guts."

Luther opened his mouth to respond, but thought better of it.

"I'll go." Klaus repeated, picking up the discarded boot.

\---

Luther helped Klaus slowly lower into the room as everyone held their breath, Klaus only had a small amount of muscle, enough to hold himself up on the monkey bar-like ladders embedded into the roof of the room but not enough to successfully drop into the room without falling. 

As soon as Klaus had a handle of himself, Luther let go and Klaus started slowly working his way across the ladder, hanging by his arms. Vanya had her mouth covered by both her own hand and one of Five's as Klaus made it to the edge of the room, he looked back at them and they both pointed to the door across from him. 

He gave a small smile, as much of one as he could with a boot lace in his mouth, and a thumbs up as he climbed down to the door. The room rumbled softly and Klaus stopped dead in his tracks, right in front of the door. 

Vanya's eyes widened and Five pushed his hand across her mouth harder.

The rumbling subsided and Klaus let out a silent breath of relief through his nose as he slowly turned the latch on the door, flinching as it made a harsh mechanical sound.

Everyone waited with baited breath as Klaus climbed into the bridge between rooms, with him out of their sight they didn't dare move a muscle. The smack of a boot hitting the floor sounded and the trap in the empty room before them activated, making them all jump out of their skins.

Allison’s heart skipped a beat. A small thumbs up came from the hole that Klaus had disappeared into.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Luther began slowly helping everyone, one by one, into the room. First Allison, the bravest, who climbed down the sides of the room and tiptoed across the floor with her arms out. Next Five, who Luther slowly lowered down until his legs reached Allison's arms. Luther and Vanya sat anxiously, watching Five pull his body weight across the ceiling as Allison tried to support him. 

When Five had made it into the next room safely, Allison gestured for Vanya. Luther lowered her in, once again with Allion there to hold her legs firm and help her across the room. Allison holding up Vanya's weight looked more like a mother helping her child across the monkey bars than Allison with Five had. 

Finally, as Allison climbed into the hole, disappearing, Luther lowered himself into the deadly room, making it across the ceiling in record time. He slowed down when he placed his feet on the horizontal ladders, wincing as he tried to apply the pressure of his weight quietly.

He made it to the door. 

Vanya let out a choked sob, half cry, half laughing in relief. 

The trap activated.

"Fuck!" 

Luther flung himself into the room just as a metal rod flew past him.

As soon as he landed in the floor of the next room he yelled, lunging upward and yanking Vanya to the ground.

"That's enough!" Allison shouted, pulling at the back of Luther's coverall.

"She almost got me killed!" Luther yelled back, holding Vanya on the ground as she hyperventilated, shedding more tears.

"Let go of her!" Five dropped to the floor, face to face with Luther.

"Law of the jungle, Five. She's endangering the pack. What exactly has she even done so far except cry and be a burden? Klaus was right, we only need one of you to work the numbers-"

"Whoa hold on!" Klaus jumped to attention, "I never meant it like that-"

"What if i refuse." Said Five.

"You won't! You need to get out of here too."

"Luther, you let that innocent girl go!" Allison cried, still pulling at Luther's coverall with as much strength as she could muster. It wasn't much after who knows how long without food or water, constantly moving and alert.

Luther let her go. 

"Allison," He began, spinning around to look her in the eyes. Allison unconsciously noticed just how much Luther towered over her. "Every day, I mop up after your bleeding heart. You're going to get us killed-"

"For what? Having a shred of empathy?!"

"I have empathy!" He yelled, "I understand how you feel, i really do, but we need to look past emotions and do what we need to survive. I don't think we can go on any further with Vanya and Klaus weighing us down."

"How dare you." Five said. Allison just continued looking at Luther with the shock of disbelief.

"No wonder everyone left you in that house." She whispered.

Luther raised his hand, stopping short inches from Allison's face. She stood her ground, not even flinching.

Luther inhaled deeply, "What does that mean." He said.

Everyone looked at Allison, as if they were trying to fit the puzzle together but were missing too many pieces.

"I don't know." She answered. "I just knew it would insult you." 

Luther clenched his fist and lowered his hand.

"Is anybody besides me interested in what's on the other side of that door?" Said Klaus, pointing at the door that, according to Vanya and Five's coordinates, should open up into the edge of the cube.

"Open it."

Klaus walked over, grabbing the latch.

"Sunshine..." Allison pleaded as she dropped to the ground. Everyone sat and stared at the door as Klaus turned the handle.

He opened the door.

Black.

They peaked over the edge and saw complete darkness, except for the light coming from the many, many doors dotting the cube. They seemed to go on forever.

"The shell." Klaus said. "Good morning!" He called into the blackness, listening to it echo back at him. "Can't see shit."

"We've gotta try something." Luther said. "We need to see if the doors down there somewhere. Someone has to swing down there and take a look."

"Wait, what?" Allison asked, "Go down there?"

"We make a rope from our coveralls. Everyone take them off."

They all looked at him cautiously, "Come on! I've got a shirt and shorts on underneath, i assume you all do too. I'm not asking you to get naked here, this is survival! I'll tie it around myself and-"

"Oh sure," Five began, "You're gonna go. You weigh like a million pounds, it'll snap in two seconds. I'm the lightest-"

"Forget it, Five!" Allison refuted, "I-"

"I'll go." Vanya said softly. She cut Five off before he could say anything against it, "Luther's right, I- I'm useless. Let me do this, so i can prove i can do something. Please."

Allison ripped the coverall from Luther's hands, giving him a harsh glare. "I'm going." She held her hand up to silence Vanya. 

"I'm going."

She spat at Luther's feet.

\---

They wrap the makeshift rope around Allison's waist, drawing it up between her thighs in a harness shape. They lower her down, each grabbing at the length of tied together coveralls, Klaus near the front so he can stand his ground if Allison tugs too hard and Luther at the back, working as an anchor.

"Don't drop me." Is all she says before she disappears from view.

She walks down the wall as if she were mountaineering, looking around at her empty surroundings as she goes. There's nothing but wall and metal and small glowing lights in front of every door to every room going on and on and on forever.

"That's as far as you go!" She hears Luther call. He must have gotten to the end of the rope.

"There's nothing down here!" She calls back. It echos, unsettling her. "Hold on! I'm going to try and swing over to the left!"

She jumps, propelling herself off the wall to move left. Allison doesn't get very far. She hears everyone's frightened gasps as she pulls the rope. "Brace yourselves! I'm gonna try again!"

"Hurry up!" She hears Klaus yell, "You're getting heavy!"

She jumps.

The entire cube groans and shakes and whirrs, rumbling around her. The rope goes slack and she shrieks as she feels herself dropping. 

Luther makes hast toward the rope. It feels like slow motion, everyone on the ground around him as the tied coveralls whip around the room and slide through the dark hole. He feels himself running and when he opens his eyes he's halfway out of the door, leaning over the edge, clinging to the very end of the rope.

When Allison stops falling she doesn't dare move. When she sees Luther grasping the end of the rope she lets out a small sob of victory.

He yells as he tries get a decent grasp on the rope, "Get up here now!" So she begins climbing, pulling herself up the rope as fast as she can while Luther tries to make her journey shorter, pulling the rope up from his end. 

She climbs higher and higher, every moment getting closer to being saved, being pulled back into the room and away from certain demise. Allison laughs, relieved, as she reaches her hand out and she's finally close enough to Luther for him to grab it. They look into each others eyes and she laughs again, smile lighting up her face as she feels Luther's strong arms tense. She's saved.

A tear drops from Luther's eye. 

He lets go.

When he climbs back into the room slowly, nobody says a word. They all just stare at him, teary eyed, looking for answers. 

"She- uh. She slipped."

Vanya sinks the the floor, sob already on her lips.

"Vanya... We, uh- We've gotta be strong-"

"Don't even talk to her." Five snaps, wrapping a hand around her shoulders.

"We need to get to the bottom. It'll be easier to get onto the shell from there. Then we can start looking for a door-"

"Can we have one fucking second." Klaus wheezes. "Just one moment to mourn?"

"We need to get there before we get too weak. Five, you need to keep cracking the numbers-"

"Let them sleep for a while." Klaus says, watching Five lean into Vanya's shoulder, trying to hide his face in her shirt. "We haven't slept in fuck knows how long."

"One hour." Luther replies.

"Oh," Klaus jumps up, "How the fuck are you gonna know how long an hour is?"

"An hour is as long as I say." Normally, Klaus wouldn’t have taken this kind of bullshit, but he's so, so exhausted. Here’s hoping that Luther doesn’t have a very good concept of time.


	5. "Weird sandwiches."

They were all asleep, deeply so, and between them only one intact boot was left. Luther reached over Klaus' sleeping frame, slowly grabbing the boot lace and lifting it up. Trying to get the boot without waking Klaus. 

Klaus moved slightly in his sleep, whining softly. Luther stood deathly still as he waited for Klaus to settle once more. 

He got the boot.

slowly, he put his hand over Five's mouth, waiting for the younger one to open their eyes. Five blinked awake, still semi-unconscious due to lack of sleep. Luther held a finger up to his lips when Five finally locked eyes with him and he lifted them into a bridal carry.

They were carried over the threshold of a room Luther had clearly already tested extensively and when Luther put them down on the ground Five looked up at him, confused. 

"What are you doing?" They asked groggily.

"We have to make it down to the bottom. It's a hell of a way with only one boot... But we can do it."

"You're just gonna leave them?" He slurred, waking up only slightly.

"They're dangerous, Five." Luther sounded so confident, for a moment Five almost believed him. Then Five woke up.

"Help!" He shouted, kicking Luther in the shin.

"Five!" Luther yelled, "We need to go down!" The tell tale mechanical whirr of the door sounded behind him and he had no time to move before a body jumped on his back.

He shouted in pain as he landed right on the latch of the door on the floor, turning to see Klaus getting up from where he had fallen. "Get away from him!"

"Five, listen to me. They're spies. They're all spies, you can't trust any of them. Allison had inside information about me but she slipped up, crossed the line."

Five's eyes lit up with realisation, "You dropped her." He spat with disgust.

"Go, Luther." Klaus spat. "Give us the boot, you pig."

Luther gave Klaus the boot, right into his face. Klaus fell to the ground with the force of the boot hitting him. 

"You are the fucking boot now!" Luther yelled as he opened the door on the floor, picked Klaus up by the back of his shirt and dropped him into the room below. "Down the hatch!"

"No!" Five yelled as Vanya clutched him, gasping.

A moment of silence, then muffled laughter began filling the air.

"What the hell?" Luther said.

The laughter grew more and more hysterical with each passing moment.

Five and Vanya rushed to climb down into the room, running to Klaus' side. He lay in the centre of the room, looking to one side, laughing louder and louder. The wound on his head had doubled in size, blood dripping down the side of his face.

They helped him sit up slowly and the laughter began to mix in with small sobs.

Finally everyone saw what he was looking at. The dead body lay on the floor, face eaten away beyond recognition.

"Diego." Klaus cried. "It's- It's Diego."

"How-"

"We've been going around in god damn circles!" Klaus laughs, his voice high pitched and his sides aching.

"No." Luther said softly. He grabbed whoever was closest to him. "Where are we!?" He yelled, pushing Vanya up and into a door and pulling her head toward the neat little engraved numbers.

"I don't know!" She cried.

Five grabbed the back of Luther's shirt, "Why don't you figure it out! You haven't done anything, you- you murderer!"

Luther let Vanya go and stumbled a few steps back before slumping onto the floor. Klaus' laughter and Vanya's cries melded together in his brain.

For a moment Luther felt nothing. 

"You were right, Klaus. There is no way out of here."

Vanya, Five and Klaus huddled on the other side of the room, Vanya leaning into Klaus' chest and trying to calm down while Five continued inspecting the older man's head wound.

"Hey." Klaus said with a low voice, bumping Vanya’s elbow. "Wasn't Diego killed in that room." He pointed at the door across from them. "How can the edge be on that side when the trap that got Diego was in that room."

Five raised an eyebrow, “Who?”

“Before your time, my little friend.”

Cautiously, Five walked across the room. They kept their eyes on Luther despite him looking like he had truly given up. Better safe than sorry. 

The door opened and Five was met with blackness. He looked toward Klaus, gesturing to the empty space. “There’s no room.”

"How come there's nothing out there."

"It's the edge, Klaus."

"Well, Luther, we weren't at the fucking edge when we were in this room before now, were we? Where's the room that killed Diego."

"Shut up." Luther said, tossing the one remaining boot in Five's direction. Five ducked and watched as it sailed out the door, dropping into the void.

"Oh," Five murmured, "That was real smart."

"What difference does it make." Asked Luther, "We're dead anyways, kid."

"Don't call me kid."

"Hey!" Klaus interrupted, "Listen to what i'm saying! There was a room there before!"

Luther looked at Klaus like a teen who had just been handed a maths test he didn't study for.

"Oh my God." Five gasped, turning to Vanya. Fucking finally, Klaus thought. "We haven't been going in circles." Five said urgently, running back over to Klaus and nudging Vanya until she looked at him. "The rooms are the ones that are moving!"

Vanya looked up vacantly, "Of course." She whispered. "The noises and the shaking-!"

"We've been shifting the whole time!" Five finished. "It's the only logical explanation."

"I'm an idiot." Vanya said softly.

Five laughed, "That makes two of us." 

"Oh, thank the lord for you two." Klaus stated triumphantly.

"Wait- But that means," Vanya shot up, running to the open door. "The coordinates- Five!" She turned toward him, "The numbers, marker points on a map, right?"

Luther looked up, "What are you onto, Vanya." For once, she ignored him. 

"Well, how do you map a point that keeps moving?" She threw her glasses on, reading the numbers and then looking back at Five in distress.

"Permutations." He replied

"Permu- What?" Klaus laughed.

"Permutations." Vanya repeated. "Of course! A list of all the coordinates that the room passes through! Like a map- except it tells you uh- Where the room starts, how many times it moves, where it moves to-"

"Wow!" Klaus said with elation, "A number really tells you all that?"

"I- I don't know!" She said excitedly, "I've only been looking at one point on the map-"

"Which is probably the starting position." Five adds.

"All i saw was what the cube looked like before it started to move!" Finished Vanya.

"Okay, okay, so it's moving." Everyone jolts as Luther's voice becomes robust and confident once more. "How do we get out?"

Five and Vanya look at each other with growing dread. 

"Fourteen, twenty seven, fourteen." She says.

Five speaks Vanya's thoughts aloud with a frown. "We know where the exit is." 

Luther jumps up, "Where."

"Stay away from us." Five says with a fierce warning tone.

Luther raises his hands in surrender, "I just want to know." He says. 

"That room we passed through before," Vanya begins, ignoring Five grabbing her arm, "The one with the coordinate larger than twenty six? That coordinate placed the room outside the cube."

"Like a bridge." Klaus commented. "A bridge to freedom."

"Right," Five said reluctantly, "But only in its original position."

"What do you mean?" Luther said, still looking lost.

"Well- uh," Vanya rubbed at her forehead, "The room- It starts out as a bridge, but then it moves it's way through the maze-"

"Which is where we would have ran into it." Comments Five.

"Right- But at some point, I mean," She looked back at Five for confirmation, "It's must return to its original position?" 

Five nods, "The bridge is only a bridge for a short period of time."

"Jesus Christ." Klaus sighed, "This is more complicated than i can handle, it's like a damn combination lock."

"You're right!" Five yelled, "When the rooms are in their starting positions, the lock is open. They move out of alignment and the lock closes. Simple."

"Simple." Luther repeats un-enthusiastically. "So when does it open?"

"Well- uh- I don't exactly-"

"With a structure this big it's gotta take days for the rooms to complete a full cycle." Five says, helping Vanya out.

"But how many days?"

Five and Vanya look at each other, nod with determination, and then get to work.

\---

"To find the original coordinates, the numbers are added together. To find the permutations, they're subtracted from one another." Vanya chants as she writes. "To find the permutations..."

Vanya points to what she had just written, waiting for Five to check her maths as soon as they finish with their own equation.

"That's right," They tell her, "That means this room moves to zero, one and negative one on the X-axis. Two, five and negative seven on Y and one, negative one and zero on Z."

"What does any of this even mean?" Luther asks, hovering over their work.

"It means you suck at math." Five replies. 

"I need the room numbers around us as a reference point before i can-"

"Done." Five tells her, everyone running to their own door.

"Six, six, six, how sexy!" Klaus calls out. "Eight, nine, seven. Four, six, six."

Luther leans back on his ladder, "Five, six, seven. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Eight, nine, eight. You get that?"

"Yes."

"Five, four, five. Did you get that?"

"Yes, Luther, she got it. She isn't deaf." Five said, clearly annoyed, "Six, five, six. Seven, seven, eight. Four, six, two." He calls out. 

He sits back on the floor with her as she furiously jots the numbers down in different sets of equations. He stops her hand and takes the button, scribbling some of his own work. "X is 17, Y is 25 and Z is 14." He says. "This room makes two more moves before returning to its original position."

"Do we have time to get where we need to be?" Klaus asks.

"Maybe." Vanya replies.

Luther stands, "Then let's go."

"Wait." Says Five as they go over the numbers once more. "Can we work the traps with this system?"

"Fuck the traps," Luther says sternly. "Let's get to the bridge. That's our goal."

"Well you threw away our last boot you fucking idiot." Klaus flipped him off and smirked at Luther’s cold glare.

"We could?" Vanya says.

"We could?" Five repeats.

"Technically?"

Five sits down, criss-cross applesauce, "Run me through it."

"Well, at first i thought they were identified by prime numbers, but that ended up being wrong. I think they're identified by numbers that are the power of a prime instead?"

Luther huffs, "How do we know you aren't just wrong again!"

"No, i think she's onto something." Five lifts his hand toward Luther, waiting for Vanya to say more. "Okay, that doesn't seem too bad, why only technically?"

"Not too bad?" Vanya asks incredulously, "Five, these numbers are huge!"

"Well, we just have to calculate the number of factors in each set-"

"Oh," Vanya says, laughing, "Only that? Five, that's impossible! Maybe if we had a computer-"

"You don't need a computer." Luther says, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, i do!"

"Just figure it out!"

"Look," Vanya began, shrinking away from Luther, "Nobody in the whole world could do this sort of thing mentally! Look at the numbers, 567, 898, 545. There's no way that anyone could factor that!" She sobs as Luther takes a step toward her, "I can't even start with just 567! It's astronomical!"

"Two." Five states. His back is turned to them, looking at the wall of equations. "Pfft. Astronomical." 

"What did you say?" Vanya asked softly.

"Astronomical." Five repeats, turning around. "Ridiculous."

"No," Vanya shakes her head, "No, Five. Before that."

"Oh? Two. There are two factors in 567."

"You've got to be kidding me," Klaus says, "The kids a human calculator."

"You mean you can't do this? It's simple-"

"Five." Vanya says seriously, kneeling down to their level and grabbing them by the shoulders. "Five, listen to me. Are you sure."

"Am I- Vanya what-?" He shook his head, as if Vanya asking him if he was sure was the insult of the century.

"How many factors does thirty have."

Five squinted at Vanya, "That's child's play. It has three."

"How about seven."

"This is insane."

"Answer her question, Five." Luther said.

"I'll make you a sandwich." Vanya added.

"Ah, yes." Klaus piped up. "Weird sandwiches."

"One factor. What kind of sandwich."

"Any kind you like as long as you get us out of here!"

Vanya glanced at Luther. "No, not any kind." She looked back at Five, squinting her eyes. "Peanut butter and marshmallows." She stared, inspecting his features. As his face began to soften she pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

“Incredible,” Klaus murmurs, “The power of weird sandwiches.”

“Stop saying that.” Luther deadpans.

“Uh- Vanya?” Five says, getting slightly uncomfortable at the prolonged tight hug. “I don’t remember telling you my favourite food-”

“My brother,” She says, pulling back, “You didn’t tell me I- I remember- He’d cover the walls in equations and try to explain it to me, bounce ideas off of me. I made him a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich every night-”

“Oh, that’s not even that weird of a sandwich-”

“But,” Vanya continued, “I don’t remember you.”

“So, you remember your brother, who is me, but you don’t remember me.”

Everyone mulled Five’s summary around in their minds.

“Well,” Luther said, “That sounds stupid. How are you sure he’s your brother? Wouldn’t you have known when you saw him?”

“No! I’m- I’m sure-!” Vanya cries as Five slowly nods his head in thought.

“It’s really not that far-fetched.” Huffs Klaus, “You dumb hypocrite. What happened to ‘Diego, i know of you but i don’t know you’?”

With something to compare the feeling to that Luther himself had experienced he looks away, embarrassed as he remembers how strange that moment was, how it felt like his brain wasn’t working right. He nods, “Okay. So, siblings then?”

Five smiled lopsidedly, “I think so.”

“Makes sense.” Klaus giggled, pointing to the absolute mess of mathematical scribbles covering the walls of their current room, Vanya and Five’s handiwork.

Suddenly, Vanya's eyes shot open, "Right! The factors- Five, how many are in uh-" She runs over to one of the doors, slipping her glasses on.

"Oh," Five whispers to Klaus, "So now that i'm blood, she believes i can do it without question." He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. 

"898!"

"Two factors." Five replies quickly.

"545?"

Five scoffs, "Two, again."

"Damn," Klaus whistles, "You're quick." 

Five replies with a wink, "Astronomical, my ass."

Five startles as Luther grabs him and pulls him into a quick hug, "You and that big beautiful brain of yours!" He cheers.

Five hisses, "Let me go, you asshole!"

Luther steps back, not testing his luck.

"According to those numbers the room should be safe!" Vanya says.

"Well," Luther begins, "There's only one way to find out." He grabs Klaus by the back of his shirt and hefts him up through the door.

"Don't!" Is all Five manages to shout before Klaus is already through the door and face down into the room. Klaus lifts his head up slowly, looking around with fear as the rest watch from the open door. He rolls over onto his back and lets out a giddy breath.

"Safe." Klaus groans.

\---

"Okay, the factor of 656?"

"Two."

"779?"

"Two."

"462?"

"Three."

Vanya claps, "Clear!"

"Move." Luther pushes.

Five hurries through the door with Vanya hot on their trail, they share a nervous look and Five nods, looking behind her at Klaus who's taking his sweet time climbing through the door. Waiting for Five and Vanya to get to the other side of the room and open the next door before he ambles down.

"I said move!" Shouts Luther from behind him.

"Okay, okay!" Whines Klaus, "I'm going, God!" He rolls his eyes in an exaggerated fashion and purposefully turns around halfway through climbing through the door, so he's facing Luther but still not out of the way enough for Luther to begin climbing through the door himself.

"563?" Vanya asks, looking back at Klaus sliding down into the room anxiously.

"Klaus-!" Luther yells, clearly annoyed. Klaus hits the floor.

"Finally-Hg!" Klaus grabs the bottom of the door and pushes it with all his might, catching Luther's head in between the door and the top of the door frame. Luther chokes with shock for a second, before shoving his hand in the gap near the top of the door and pushing down with all his strength.

"Hurry!" Klaus shrieks.

Five clears the next room in record time and jumps through, pulling Vanya by the arm to make her move faster.

"Klaus-!" At Five's call he lets go of the door and runs across the room, distantly he can hear Luther cursing and shoving the door behind him open, lumbering toward them. Klaus slides into the next room and shuts the door just before Luther gets there, but they can all still hear the loud crashes and bangs as Luther wreaks havoc on the other side, desperately trying to get through.

"The next room, quick!" Klaus calls.

Five turns back, "This ones trapped! We can't just keep running in a straight line forever!"

"Remember how we found Five?" Vanya says.

Klaus struggles with the door as Luther hits it, again and again. For a second Klaus could have sworn that it was denting.

"Vanya, you genius. Hold the door." 

Vanya and Five both run toward the door, taking over for Klaus and trying to hold the door firm. This better work, Klaus thinks to himself.

Luther bursts through the door, Vanya and Five no match for him. They step back from the door, rushing to the other side of the room. Five stands protectively in front of Vanya, taller than her despite being so much younger. The both look at Luther with the fear of defeat. Luther smiles. 

"Where is he." Luther asks, "Jump in a random room? Trap get him? Serves him right." He walked toward them leisurely. 

The ground drops out from under him.


	6. Simulation

Ben remembered.

He remembered his siblings, he remembered dying. For the record he didn’t need to remember how dying felt, but his brain decided he needed to know anyway. Did ghosts have brains? Either way, Ben had a bone to pick with whatever part of his soul was in charge of remembering things.

He inhaled another false breath as he moved into the next room, ignoring the activating trap that couldn't hurt him anyway. So why couldn't he just move through the walls at will? 

The cube groaned. 

Ben stopped in his tracks, waiting for it to pass. Despite him being surrounded with metal and sounds reminiscent of the squeaking cage he had seen Vanya in only a few months before hand Ben couldn't help but shake the feeling that this place was alive. There was something organic about it, a vibe that Ben didn't like to dwell on. An intelligence that didn't like the fact Ben walked through traps without a care in the world.

He shook his head, he needed to find his siblings, find a way out. Another trap activated.

The cube moaned at the loss.

\---

It had worked. Luther lay on the floor of the room below them unconscious and the three took no time to check whether he was dead or alive, they just needed to move.

They ran through rooms in the direction Vanya believed to be the way out, only stopping for Five to check the factors of the numbers branded into the bottom of every door. They were all getting slower with every room they passed through.

Klaus was worse for wear, deep discoloured bags beneath his eyes and curled hair sticking up in odd directions filled with blood, varying levels of dried. His body was covered his bruises, black and yellow and purple all spreading across his skin like a disease. There was a headache pounding deep through his skull but he walked and climbed all the same, lifting Five up to rooftops and down into floors when needed.

Vanya and Five just looked tired, but Klaus could see behind their eyes. The exhaustion and pain was plain on Vanya's face and no matter how hard Five tried to look strong, his body was that of a child's. Klaus wouldn't dare use the word frail to describe his young friend but Five was in no way ready for battle.

"Whoa." Whispered Vanya as she looked over the edge of a door, there should be a cube there soon she thinks.

Lo and behold the mechanical rumbling of the cube sounded above Vanya's head, she drew back into the room quickly as she listened to the bridge moving downward. Freedom.

When it settled in front of them Vanya almost cried. Or maybe she did, eyes wet and mousy brown hair sticking limply to her cheeks. 

The door opened and she wasted not a moment.

"Wait!" Klaus called out, "We haven't checked for-!" He jumps in after her, because this may as well happen.

Five sighs and drops their head against the wall in the room previous. "Idiots." They says to them self, closing their eyes. The cool of the metal against their forehead soothes them.

"Are you kidding me." They say as the room begins to shake with familiar mechanical sounds. Their eyes remain closed, trying to stay in the moment of calm they had found. Vanya's yell snaps them out of their drifting.

"Five, no!" Five's eyes shoot open as they realise why the rumbling sounds were so close. They were moving. 

"Fuck."

It was too late. Five jumped up just as the door closed, they tried to twist it open but while the shaking was ongoing the door didn't budge. Five hated the feeling, the way their ears popped and the lightheaded-ness set in. Like they were in an elevator, dropping to their doom.

Vanya and Klaus were frozen in disbelief, staring at the now closed door. A tear slid down Vanya's cheek as she realised that when she opened the door her brother wouldn't be on the other side.

"Vanya!?" It was faint and muffled, like feeling for a pulse that was barely there. "Klaus!"

"They didn't move far." Vanya said, dazed.

Klaus nodded, "Let's go find the little guy."

"Five!?" Vanya called, "Five, keep calling!"

"What do you think?" Klaus asked as he opened a door, he smiled triumphantly when Five's voice sounded ever so slightly louder.

"Be careful." Vanya looked at the room cautiously, "You only have one life, Klaus." He simply winked at her, jumping into the room.

Nothing happened. 

"Lady Luck, i hope you're with me babe." He said with a smirk.

Vanya paced, there wasn't much more time, only one more move and the bridge would be in place. Was it enough time for them to get to it? would she be trapped here forever, Klaus soon in bloody ribbons and Five separated? She gasps as a piece of glass sticks into her foot, pulling out of her anxious state.

Vanya lifts it to her face, inspecting it. Finally, she pulls her glasses out. The small glass shard fits perfectly into the small crack, caused when Luther had first found her and pushed her into the room. This room.

"No way."

"Five?" Klaus listens again, Five's voice sounding closer and closer, he opens up the floor and pokes his head in to see Five on the floor looking right back up at him.

"Praise the fucking lord!" Klaus yells, pulling himself back up and blowing kisses to the sky, or rather, where he thinks the sky should be.

"Incredible, now help me up you moron!"

Before Klaus can get a word in he hears it, Vanya frantically yelling from three or four rooms over, "Klaus, get back here right now!"

Five looks up at him, raising his arms not unlike a toddler asking to be picked up. Klaus laughs, making his way down.

They climb as fast as they can, retracing Klaus' steps.

"Hurry, we don't have much time!" Vanya calls, "This rooms next move takes it to the bridge!"

She's in sight and they rush, Klaus pushing Five ahead of himself and Klaus makes it into the room just before the door slams behind them and the tell tale rumbling begins. He's thrown to the floor with the movement as when they stop Vanya sits next to his head, running her fingers through his sticky locks as he lays there staring up at the ceiling.

He spits up some blood and smiles, "This better be it." He huffs.

They sat in silence, almost holding their breath. Klaus looked out the door that Vanya had just opened, the black empty hole was harsh on his eyes and he looked away. He'd take artificial harsh light over the unknown.

"Oh, well." He said after a few more moments of anxiety inducing waiting, "At least we tried."

"Give it a minute." Five whacked him on the arm; Klaus absently noted it was specifically one of the only places he hadn't been hurt thus far. 

"So, guess what," Vanya began, trying to awkwardly fill the empty air. "This was the room we started in." She held up the shard of glass and her own glasses in turn for emphasis.

Klaus and Five both just groaned softly.

"So you mean, if we'd just stayed where we were-"

"Allison was right, we should never have moved, but-"

"No but's! I-"

"-Leaving is how we found Five, remember?"

"Yeah, Klaus. You'd leave me for dead?" He shot an innocent face in Klaus' direction, getting a glare in return. 

"You shouldn't smile. Looks unnatural, like you're about to sink your teeth into my neck you little-"

Klaus was interrupted but a loud screeching as the door slammed shut followed by a rumble, shaking the whole room. Thud.

Vanya and Klaus stood staring at one another, afraid to move.

"What are you waiting for!" Five said jumping to their feet. It seemed to break Vanya out of whatever state the noise had put her in because she began twisting the handle on the door before Five got to her. The door slid open easily and inside, a red room.

"The bridge." Klaus said, relieved.

"I don't think they'd trap it." Vanya said with amusement as Five lent over the numbers, murmuring to themself.

"It's clear." He replied, "Not trapped, but i wouldn't have put it past these freaks." They jumped into the room, still looking as if they were waiting for someone to pull the rug out from under them. 

"You can't enjoy anything, huh?" Klaus said as Vanya helped him in.

Five smiled his too toothy grin, "Says the guy who was fine accepting death not 5 minutes ago."

"Boys." Vanya warned, a soft smile on her face. "Now we wait."

"Again?" The sound of Five thwapping Klaus once again echoed throughout the room.

“I’m going to open the door, jackass.” Five said, sounding more grown up than the two literal grown ups in the room. Klaus was quite proud.

As Five opened the door the most beautiful thing Klaus had ever seen erupted from the door, covering them in a harsh gleam of light. It was bright, it was gorgeous and it was just what they all needed.

Five looked back and saw their marvelled faces, the all-illuminating light making the many spots of dried blood sparkle and the creases in all their faces unable to be ignored. In the dreary light of the cube they had some sort of deniability, that they didn’t look as bad as they felt. Now, Five say every sad scratch and bruise on both of their faces, but they smiled. 

They all smiled, and that was all that mattered. 

\---

Ben had found the exit a while ago. 

It had been quite easy, turns out being dead had more perks in this place than just being immune to traps. The ghosts that walked through the rooms were mostly useless, echos of their former selves or far too traumatised to tell him anything of use, but sometimes Ben would come across a ghost that knew a little more than they were supposed to. 

He was told of the inner workings of the cube, the building process, he met people that were supervisors on the project. The project that had turned on them and had landed them in the cube in the first place.

The coordinates were told to him by someone from lower management, they asked one too many questions and in the cube they went, all their rights stolen as they began a personal guinea pig for whoever ran this thing. 

Later on there was a nice old lady who helped him with quite a lot of maths, explaining the permutations with the patience of a saint and pointing him in the right direction. 

Once he’d found the exit, he couldn’t just leave. 

No, he needed to go back in, find his siblings. They were smart, they would have figured out most of this he believed, but he knew everything now. 

All he had to do was hope against his pessimistic nature that Klaus had survived this long, time works differently when you’re a ghost but Ben’s been paying extra attention these past few days. That’s how he knows it’s been at least a few days. 

When he finds Luther alone, crying, huddled up against the corner of a room - Well. Ben knows that Luther can’t hear or see him, but he hopes he may be able to feel his presence. So he sits and he waits. Watching over Luther and begging him, pleading as his hands pass through his brother’s body for the sixth time in the past hour.

Luther needs to get up, and when that happens Ben will be with him every step of the way, seen or not.

\---

Vanya shook as tears streamed down her face, looking into the glaring light with wide eyes. Her hands were clasped tight to her chest as if she was afraid to reach out, that if she did the door may close in her face. Klaus rubbed his face, smearing some of the currently congealing blood around as he slowly knelt to the ground. 

The light left he face as he lowered to the ground and Vanya went with him, confused look on her face. 

“Klaus?” Five asked from the door.

“Go ahead.” He said, nodding his head toward the door. “Get out. Go with him.” He laughed softly, eyes closed tight.

“What are you talking about?” Vanya cried.

Five jumped down from the ladder, letting go of the door. “Get up! You can’t quit now, we’re there!” They yelled, anger clear in their voice.

“I have nothing to live for out there.” Klaus replied. “I’m just a- some nameless, faceless junkie in that world. I have nothing, and whatever’s out there isn’t going to give me worth, or a purpose.”

“What do you think’s out there?” Vanya asked softly.

“Boundless human stupidity.”

“That’s bullshit!” Five screamed. “You can’t seriously think we’re just going to leave you here, on the floor? When the door’s right fucking there?” 

“If i go with you, i’ll just be part of the problem.”

Vanya swept the matted curls out of his eyes and ran her hand down the side of his face. He simply stared ahead, looking into nothingness.

She whispered to him, so close he could feel her breath. “I think i could live with that.” Klaus looked into Vanya’s eyes, her smile was almost motherly.

Five screamed. 

Time slowed down around him, Vanya’s sweet face so close to his and frozen in fear. The smile that made everything feel okay dripped off her face and Five looked so far away, so far. They were across the room, by the door to freedom. They were so close. Klaus felt a hysterical laugh fall from his mouth as blood seeped down the door handle protruding from Vanya’s chest, soaking her pure white undershirt.

She gasps for air, choking on the thick blood that leapt from her mouth, splattering on Klaus’ face. His tears flowed freely as she spent her last few moments of life looking into his eyes, trying to convey something. He understood. 

Her body fell to the side and in its place, Luther’s appeared with eyes wide and mouth open in shock. As if he couldn’t believe what he had just done. Klaus looked up at him and for a moment they just stared. Klaus couldn’t hear Vanya’s chokes or Five scratching at the walls behind themself, pressed so firm against the wall Klaus thought they might meld right into it. Their eyes were watery and filled with confliction.

Klaus wanted so desperately for Five to jump through the door and close it behind them but if Five was anything, they were loyal to a fault, and Klaus knew that the kid wouldn’t just leave him.

“She- She was holding us back. She was going to get us killed.” Luther said, repeating his own personal mantra.

Klaus leapt at the bigger man, trying to tackle him. With Klaus’ small frame it didn’t do anything except make Luther angry.

“What did you do.” The voice echoed through Klaus’ head, though it wasn’t his own. “What did you do!?” 

Klaus’ head hits the solid metal floor and the world spins. Someone’s yelling at him to get up, the frantic calls are familiar and despite the dire situation they calm Klaus ever so slightly. Hands are reaching for him yet they don’t make contact, and for once Klaus doesn’t feel a deep sense of uncomfortable fear at the translucent body parts slipping through his frame like nothing.

“Klaus!” The voice is shouting, “Klaus, get up!”

He’s dizzy and distantly he can feel searing pain shoot up his arm when he tries to put weight on it to push himself off of the ground. His head turns frantically, trying to get his vision to focus.

“Come any closer and i’ll snap your neck.” It probably would have been more threatening if not said by a thirteen year old, but Five’s eyes glaze over and they’re standing their ground in front of the door to freedom with a voice so full of confidence and conviction that for a moment Klaus really believes that Five could do it without even flinching.

“Five, go!” He shouts, “Get out!” His arms shake and there's rusted copper coating his sinuses and he realises that he hasn’t been able to feel his left leg for a while, as if all the nerve endings had just stopped functioning and all that was left behind was a warm numbness. 

The familiar voice is talking again, right in front of his face, but Klaus can’t make out the words. He knows that face though. 

“Ben?”

It all comes back. Klaus chokes as the memories hit him, the blockage in his mind destroyed and now the river was overflowing in his head and drowning him, his own tears mixing in.

“Luther…” Klaus whispered. “Luther! Stop, please we’re your family! She was your sister, Luther!” Klaus wheezed through his tears. 

“I had to.” He said, “I had to, I had to.” The long metal door handle leaved Vanya’s body with a thick and sickening squelch and Luther holds the rod in his hands, there are tears dripping from his eyes but the expression on his face doesn’t match them. For a split second Klaus thinks the man is going to break down right in front of him.

Ben is kneeling in front of him, screaming, and how did Klaus get back on the floor? Klaus really wished that Ben should shut up for a minute, isn’t that a big ask? Ben shutting up? He always had something witty to say to whatever Klaus was doing with his life. It had never been ear piercing screaming. 

Luther wrenches the handle out of Klaus’ stomach and all Klaus can think is ‘huh’. 

Ben touches his face, really touches his face. Ghosts are surprisingly warm, you wouldn’t have thought it. All Klaus can see is blue light, illuminating the room unnaturally.

The cube shakes and shifts. 

Ben and Luther stand face to face and Luther’s face falls.

The cube moans and groans.

Five can feel themself getting pushed back, they gasp as they hit the clean white tiled floor, staring up into the light in shock.  
The cube screams in Luther’s ears. Five is on the floor and Luther is climbing though the door and the cube is quaking and Ben’s stomach is opening like a loose thread had been pulled. 

The ghostly appendages wrap around Luther’s frame as he’s halfway out and pull, they pull as hard as they can but even they aren’t stronger than Luther. He looks back into the room, into the cube that has became so many of his siblings eternal resting places. Luther sees Klaus smile at him sadly, ball of blue light quivering in his hands.

The cube cries out as the small room begins to move, Luther still stuck halfway out of the doorway. It struggles as he pulls against the mechanism, arms pulsing with veins and all Five can do is watch. All Five can do is lose their non-existent lunch when the room disappears with a clean pop, leaving nothing behind except a thick smear of red.

Five is alone. 

They look out into the all consuming light, from the cube it had looked warm and welcoming but now that they were in the thick of it all Five could feel was the uncomfortable heat of the halogen lights that they could not see. The pure white linoleum seemed to be never ending. Jumping the claustrophobia of the cube to this wide expanse, no walls or ceiling in sight, unnerved Five greatly. 

A screech came over what sounded like a radio or speaking system and a grainy voice pierced the silence.

“Thank you for participating. Please answer the question. Do you believe in God?”

Five sat on the floor, staring up at the sky. Very intelligently, they replied, “What?”

“Do you believe in God?” The voice asked again.

“Where am I. Who the fuck are you people?”

The voice sighed, “Please answer the question. Do you believe in God?”

“No, fuck you! Where the hell am i?!” 

“Thank you for answering.” 

Five raced forward, “What do you want with me! What kind of sick experiment are you running!? I want answers-”

Their voice was drowned out as the fires arose around them, the heat on their face making them pause. Five’s whole body went numb and the smoke filled their lungs, festering inside of them as ash climbed up their legs. The soot covered their skin densely and Five opened their mouth to call out, yet nothing happened. Their legs gave out from under them as the ash flaked off of their burnt skin and floated calmly into the air while Five watched. They felt nothing.

“Simulation over. Thank you for participating. Let's try it for real this time.”

Five woke up in a room with four walls, each with its own door as well as one on the ceiling and one on the floor. A perfect cube.


End file.
